Protein Rich Diet May Boost Fertility

by Sharon Mazel on January 29, 2015

Sharon Mazel

About the Author

Sharon Mazel is a journalist and mom to four girls. She works with Heidi Murkoff on her What To Expect book series and has written for The Washington Post, Parenting Magazine, Baby Talk Magazine, and of course, WhatToExpect.com. Before becoming a mom she was a TV writer and producer at NBC News, FOX News, and WPIX-NY.

About the Blog

WhatToExpect.com supports Word of Mom as a place to share stories and highlight the many perspectives and experiences of pregnancy and parenting. However, the opinions expressed in this section are those of individual writers and do not reflect the views of Heidi Murkoff of the What to Expect brand.

Could eating more protein get you on the right path toward conception? There's plenty of evidence that suggests what you eat when you're trying to conceive can either help your fertility or hamper your baby-making dreams. And now a new study presented at ACOG's Annual Clinical Meeting found that hopeful moms-to-be undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments have better quality eggs and embryos if they eat more protein and fewer carbs.

Researchers at the Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine looked at 120 women of similar body mass index (BMI) undergoing IVF treatment and found that women whose diet consisted of 25 percent or more of protein and 40 percent or less of carbs had four times the pregnancy rate of women who ate less protein and more carbs before and during their IVF cycles. What's more, the embryos of those women who ate a diet consisting of 60 percent carbs and 10 percent protein were not as healthy as those women who had a 25 percent (or more) protein/40 percent (or less) carb ratio diet.

These findings are exciting, especially for women hoping to get a baby on board faster. But before you revamp your pre-pregnancy diet to all protein/no carbs in an effort to hit the pregnancy jackpot sooner, consider the following: Low-carb/high protein may be effective when you're trying to lose weight, but cutting out any food group is never a good idea when you're TTC. If you go too low on the carbs, you're cutting out fertility-friendly nutrients (especially the all important folic acid) found in fruits, veggies (yes, those are carbs!), and fortified breads. And all protein all the time can be a mega fertility buster, according to other research.

Remember, good nutrition is a balancing act, and getting that right balance is crucial now that you're aiming for a pregnancy (and a healthy one at that!). So don't go crazy with the protein before and during your baby making efforts, but do aim for the right balance, which, according to this small study, is around 25 to 35 percent protein and less than 40 percent carbs per day.

What are your best bets for powering up with protein? Low fat poultry and fish are excellent choices (think turkey burgers, chicken cutlets, salmon filets), but you'll do your body — and your fertility — even better if you focus on plant proteins: quinoa (one of the best sources of protein in the plant kingdom), beans, lentils, chickpeas, edamame, walnuts, pecans, almonds, and sunflower or pumpkin seeds.

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